Tech News & Commentary

Microsoft targets Box, Dropbox in online storage push

Microsoft is taking aim at online services Box and Dropbox by greatly increasing the data storage it offers with business versions of its Office 365 and OneDrive services.

Microsoft (MSFT) on Monday announced that it is increasing data storage for OneDrive for business customers to 1 terabyte per user from 25 gigabytes, a 40-fold increase. The company will also give Office 365 ProPlus customers 1 TB of OneDrive for Business storage per user as part of their Office 365 ProPlus subscription. And Microsoft said it will help organizations move data from other services to OneDrive for Business.

In a blog post, John Case, corporate vice president for Microsoft Office, argued that companies are better off buying a complete cloud computing service from Microsoft than cobbling together technology pieces from multiple companies. It didn't name Box and Dropbox, but the headline of the article, "Thinking outside the box ," seemed to be a jab at the storage specialists.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the company's Build conference on April 2 in San Francisco. View Enlarged Image

"The era of making isolated, single-solution decisions is rapidly coming to a close," Case wrote. "Smart businesses are now choosing partners that have a holistic, comprehensive and connected set of cloud offerings."

Case said cloud computing "is about breaking down walls between people and information. Not building a new set of islands in the sky."

Box Chief Executive Aaron Levie responded to Microsoft's blog post with one of his own. He criticized Microsoft for keeping its storage software "closed" and making it difficult for users to move their data among different services.

Levie also disputed the notion that business customers are looking for a single company to manage all aspects of their cloud computing.

"In the post-PC era, the enterprise software landscape has become far more heterogeneous, with most organizations using a litany of best-of-breed cloud solutions, including Salesforce.com (CRM), Workday (WDAY), Zendesk, MobileIron, Okta, GoodData, Domo, Google (GOOGL) Apps, Office 365, Box, and many more. In this era, data should be free to move to the services that a customer chooses."

Box and Dropbox are both expected to go public in the coming months.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made cloud computing a key focus for the company. He talked up the company's cloud initiatives in a big way during Microsoft's quarterly results conference call last Thursday.

See Also

9 Search king Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is diving deeper into health with new products like a health-tracking wristband developed by its secretive Google X lab that awaits FDA approval. In Sept., Google bought Lift Labs, which makes a high-tech spoon to counter tremors in Parkinson's patients. In 2014, ...

Just six companies are keeping second-quarter earnings growth in positive territory for S&P 500 businesses, which may suggest more softness to come. With 72% of S&P 500 companies having reported their performance in the last calendar quarter, earnings have grown a mere 0.9%. Revenue so far ...

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) is teaching a quick lesson in flexibility in chart interpretation. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company provides software and hardware for cloud networking. Its cloud networking gear manages data traffic between Internet users and the data centers of major customers ...

Men feel comfortable at work, but women are chilly, the Washington Post's Petula Dvorak has reported. Dvorak cited a Cornell University study on office temperature: "When they warmed the place from 68 to 77 degrees ... productivity went up by 150%." She added, "The U.S. Energy Department estimates ...

About Investor's Business Daily

Investor’s Business Daily provides exclusive stock lists, investing data, stock market research, education and the latest financial and business news to help investors make more money in the stock market. All of IBD’s products and features are based on the CAN SLIM® Investing System developed by IBD’s Founder William J. O’Neil, who identified the seven common characteristics that winning stocks display before making huge price gains. Each letter of CAN SLIM represents one of those traits.

Select market data is provided by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services. Price and Volume data is delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise noted, is believed accurate but is not warranted or guaranteed by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services and is subject to Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services terms. All times are Eastern United States. *Reflects real-time index prices.